PANABO CITY, Davao del Norte - After two straight wins Thursday, Davao City's Michael Accion lost steam and bowed to Bukidnon's John Bryan Otico who survived Day 2 hostilities of the Mayor James Gamao National Invitational Championship 2017 along with Leander Lazaro, Fritz Verdad and top seed Patrick John Tierro amid scorching heat at the city's new twin courts here yesterday.
Accion, 21, a graduating Sports Management student of National University, dropped to a 2-1 win-loss card in bracket B after losing to 18-year-old Otico, 4-6, 5-7 in the match that lasted about two hours.
The match was tight from the start as the Dabawenyo from Toril and the Maramag native exchanged lead changes and forced deadlocks as well as challenged each other with a series of deuces that tested both their patience.
Fifth seed Otico, in an interview with Sun.Star Davao, said, "Sugod first set palang sa serve ra mi nagdaug. Nabreak nako sya once mao pud nahitabo sa second set. Kailangan jud i-pressure nako pag nagserve sya (We were both challenging each other's services. I broke his one in the first set and the same thing happend in the second set. I had to pressure his serve)."
He improved to 2-1 in the group round-robin eliminations. Otico succumbed to Fritz Verdad, 6-4, 1-6, 9-10, Thursday afternoon. The La Salle Zobel player attributed the loss to the cramps he felt in both his legs. Otico survived the grueling match against Accion after a good massage, dose of vitamins and lots of fluids.
Tenth seed Accion, meanwhile, admitted, "Dili jud nako sya kaya kay gihimo naman nako ang tanan. Dili nako ma-break iyang serve (I couldn't beat him despite having did my best. I wasn't able to break his services)."
Fourth seed Verdad, for his part, claimed his third win by escaping past third seed Vicente Alberto "Onyok" Anasta, 3-6, 6-3 (10-7) in the same group. The latter, who missed action in past five months, absorbed his third defeat.
In a separate match, former Uaap most valuable player (MVP) Lazaro, 24, subdued Jan Godfrey Seno of Bogo, Cebu, 6-4, 7-5 in Group A of the netfest presented by Merco and Selecta.
Lazaro said playing Seno whom he considers as one of the country's rising stars was tough although he capitalized on the latter's injury.
"Injured din kasi sya eh may advantage din ako usually kasi lagi kaming three sets at sobrang dikit. Naging disadvantage nya yong injury nya nakuha nya kay (Noel) Damian kahapon," Lazaro said, adding that luck was just on his side.
He, however, bared that his body is tired. "Mga games ko simula kahapon bugbugan, katawan ko bugbog narin. Maswerte lang ako. Mahina na katawan ko di ko na mapalo ang gusto kong ipalo. Pero kaya ko pang ilaro."
He was playing Tierro, a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Damian, as of yesterday presstime.
The annual meet, will resume this afternoon. A free tennis clinic will be held in the morning.
Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), Engineer Glenn Olandria, Bioextend, Stronghold Insurance, Swiss Deli, Mamma Maria's by Paul Abao, Rocky's Barbershop by Timtom Gempesaw, Asiatraders, Slazenger, Dunlop, Gene Rose Tecson and Representative Tonyboy Floirendo are also backers of the event.